first-chance exception

noun

An exception (error condition) when handled by a debugger, such that the programmer has the first chance to study it; such an exception would otherwise proceed to a handler or (in its absence) crash the program.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounfirst-chance exception (plural first-chance exceptions)

plural first-chance exceptions

  1. computingAn exception (error condition) when handled by a debugger, such that the programmer has the first chance to study it; such an exception would otherwise proceed to a handler or (in its absence) crash the program.

    At this stage, the exception is considered a first-chance exception. Checking the checkbox in the Thrown column forces the debugger to intervene...

    2006, Jay Hilyard, Stephen Teilhet, C# Cookbook
    1 more example

    Here getting Early Crash Dump when a first-chance exception happens can help in component identification before corruption starts spreading across data.

    2008, Dmitry Vostokov, Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 1
Cite this entry
APA

first-chance exception. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first-chance%20exception

MLA

“first-chance exception.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first-chance%20exception. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “first-chance exception,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/first-chance%20exception.

Source: first-chance exception on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.